‘Friends’ Might Be Leaving Netflix On January 1

UPDATE: Netflixchief content officer Ted Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporterthat Friends’ “departure is a rumor.” But he offered no additional details, and THR speculates that it’s “possible renegotiations [are] taking place” between Netflix and the rights holders. So the exact fate of Friends on Netflix is now up in the air.

ORIGINAL POST: Dudes, I thought you were going to be there for me. What the heck was that theme song about?!?

So no one told you life was gonna be this way: Friends is leaving Netflix really soon. In less than a month — on January 1, 2019 — the beloved ’90s sitcom will vanish from the streaming service. After that you’ll have to watch, I dunno, one of the thousands of other original series Netflix has added in the last six weeks. Better stop your binge-re-watch now.

Netflix’s exclusive licensing deal to stream all 10 seasons and 236 episodes of Friends began on January 1, 2015. Obviously the four-year deal to show the NBC series expires on New Year’s and hasn’t been renewed. It’s weird because it feels like Friends hasn’t been over there at Netflix for a very long time, but also 2015 feels like it was 45 years ago.

Hopefully you have your Friends DVDs to keep you company in the interim while we wait for Friends to show up on another streaming service. On the bright side, until Netflix appears elsewhere online, you can cheat on it with other sitcoms, and then when it comes back you can just scream “WE WERE ON A BREAK!” over and over. That’s totally allowed.